Right-wing 7th Circuit Court Judges Struggle to Defend Voter Suppression.

I'm not even sure I read this right:

Judge Frank Easterbrook of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said those challenging Wisconsin’s voting laws were contending that Democrats can expand voting rules to help their party at the polls but Republicans can’t tighten them to their advantage. “That can’t be right,” he said during arguments in a pair of Wisconsin cases

Ah, there is a difference? One party is encouraging more voters to go to the polls, regardless of party, the other wants to..."tighten" the voter rules? And "that can't be right?"

Talk about legislating from the bench. But if you thought that was bad, check out this outrageous mind bender:

A Statement by then-state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) that Republicans needed to pass the voter ID law because of how it would affect Milwaukee neighborhoods and college campuses….

Bruce Spiva, an attorney for the groups challenging the voting laws, called her statement "extraordinary" and an explicit sign Republicans meant to make it difficult to vote for minorities and other Democratic-leaning voters.

The appeals judges were skeptical. “You say explicit statements, but they’re not as explicit as you describe them,” Judges Michael Kanne said.

You've got to be trying real hard to make these absurd arguments. Imagine what the judges said that didn't make this article.

How about that Minnesota: Democratic Party's new Early Voting Laws Embraced by State Republicans!!!

Wisconsin Republicans, two sessions in a row, cut early down dramatically. They don't like it.

But if Republicans hate early voting  so much, why don't they walk the walk and follow their own advice; stay away until election day?

What, No Thank You? This Minnesota GOP post says it all about their strongly held "princibals," and their gratitude for the new Democratic Party passed early voting laws:

Here's their total sell out to early voting and call to action video:

Embarrassed State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf Stumped trying to explain how Shorter Uniform Early Voting Hours will work in Big Cities.

Uh-oh, it looks like our Republican politicians were blowing smoke up our butts touting the benefits of the new uniform early voting hours. Outgoing Sen. Dale Schultz was right not to try and defend the unexplainable and what is obviously a policy of voter suppression.

This morning on WPR's Joy Cardin Show, Sen. Sheila Harsdorf couldn't explain how shorter uniform hours would work in big cities with more people. The fact that it doesn't was a point surprisingly ignored by news outlets.

Here's Harsdorf stumbling all over herself trying to make sense of the senseless supression, and finally resorting to the standard "maintaining the integrity of elections" bullshit. Funny thing, a few other red states did, and said, the same thing. Coincidence...didn't think so:

Walker's Voter Suppression Law means longer lines, fewer low-income two shift workers and works against the will of the people.

We've all been behind someone in a line that seems to take forever, right. Well, bring something to read, because that’s what it’ll be like when you vote early. 

The completely unnecessary Walker voter suppression law rarely gave us a clear picture of what it would be like waiting in line.

With no logical reason behind it except their down-the-rabbit-hole logic that early voting should be “uniform” statewide, city clerk’s not only opposed the law but laid out the following problems:

Chippewa Herald: For Madison, the new law will reduce in-person absentee voting from 127 hours before statewide elections to 110, with the loss of weekend hours more likely to affect low-income voters who work two shifts during the week or lack transportation or child care to vote during the week, according to City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl. She added that voters can expect longer lines and more delays ... because her staff will also have to take care of their regular business during the week. “When we’re open for absentee voting on the weekend, all we’re doing is absentee voting,” Witzel-Behl said. “We’re able to be more efficient that way because we’re focused on one thing.”

Walker did line-item-veto the incredibly deceptive limit of 45 hours of early voting sandwiched within the 55 hour, 8 am-7 pm “window” of opportunity. Even my conservative friend didn't get it until I explained it to him 3 or 4 times.

Did the Republicans carry out the will of the people regarding early voting? Doesn't look like it: 66% of those same people liked the current hours/liked even more hours:

A Marquette Law School poll found respondents supported more early voting, rather than less. 39% said three weeks with three weekends; 27% favored two weeks with one weekend; Only 12 percent supported the new rules, though 20 percent said they support no early voting.

There were 32% of the people who have soured on the idea of voting. Perhaps soon Republicans will demand “certainty” when it comes to running for office. 

Outgoing State Sen. Dale Schultz sets the record straight on GOP Voter suppression laws.

While the Democratic Party has been sounding the voter suppression alarm for the longest time, people still tend to believe the one or two Republicans who've said the same exact thing. Such is the case with outgoing Republican Sen. Dale Schultz. 

On 92.1 FM The Mic, Devil's Advocates hosts Mike Crute and Dominic Salvia asked Schultz about this next round of voter suppression laws. Schultz does not hold back in this shortened audio:

Schultz: “I am not willing to defend them anymore … I’m just not and I’m embarrassed by this. It’s all predicated on some belief there is a massive fraud or irregularities, something my colleagues have been hot on the trail for three years and have failed miserably at demonstrating … It’s just sad when a political party has so lost faith in its ideas that it’s pouring all of its energy into election mechanics. We should be pitching as political parties our ideas for improving things in the future rather than mucking around in the mechanics and making it more confrontational at the voting sites and trying to suppress the vote.”

Al Sharpton's producer thought this was a big enough story to feature on the show:



More coverage on The Last Word, with John Nichols:

Republican Voter Suppression efforts to change Early Voting, hurts Waukesha County Republican Voters, and More...

It’s true, Republican voters go to the polls just like Democratic voters. And when Republican legislators make it harder to vote, it affects everyone…including Republicans.

On Upfront with Mike Gousha, Glenn Grothman blames Milwaukee as the most abusive county when it comes to the early voting law, with long hours and weekends. He was way off, which is explained below:

So who was the bigger abuser, and loser with Grothman's bill? Republican stronghold Waukesha County!!! Doh!

jsonline: Milwaukee and Dane counties, which consistently vote Democratic, accounted for more than a quarter of all early in-person votes cast that year, according to Government Accountability Board data.

But as a percentage of total ballots cast, no county topped Waukesha County, a bastion of Republican support, where 28.1 percent of voters cast ballots in person before Election Day. Other conservative counties also went for early voting in a big way.

Overall, 16.7 percent of state voters cast ballots early. Despite the popularity, or perhaps because of it, Republican lawmakers are scaling back early voting for the second time in as many sessions.

Incidental Governor Scott Walker hardly even noticed Election Reform Bills Rushed through the Capitol.....

Yes, the senate passed a bunch of restrictive bills today restricting elections, but that's not the story here. Staying completely out of the controversy to suppress voting, Walker delivered his now standard droopy eyed comeback:

WSJ: Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday that he would call lawmakers into a special session to modify Wisconsin’s voter photo identification requirements if courts don’t uphold the current measure, which has been blocked since shortly after he signed it into law in 2011.

Walker said the elections bills haven’t been on his “radar,” adding he would look at the measures if they pass the Legislature .

You know, he's just curious...who knows what the legislature cooked up this time.

Republicans cancel Weekend Voting, Limit Hours in Big Cities, and fund Rural Voting and Limit Urban Voting. More Changes to come.

Yesterday I posted a video showing how Ohio took the same steps as Wisconsin Republicans, by leveling out the hours statewide to vote. Never mind cities have so many more voters. In their small brains they either don’t get it or just like acting pretty stupid.

jsonline: Republican state senators narrowly approved bills Wednesday to end weekend voting before elections … Clerks would not be able to hold early voting during all of that period because they would be limited to allowing a total of 45 hours of early voting a week … the measure would level the playing field for urban and rural areas because rural clerks don't have the staff to keep the long hours that cities do.

Madison, Waukesha and Milwaukee taxpayers will now be paying for rural early voting? I can’t tell you how many times I hear conservatives whine about their money going  to pay for someone else’s stuff, like health care and food stamps. Now they’re okay funding rural communities that are too cheap to pay for their own elections?

The Senate amended the bill to have the state pay half the expenses for rural municipalities offering early voting. That provision would cost about $200,000, and Assembly leaders have not signed off on it.

Am I the only one who doesn't want conservative rural voters canceling my ballot, on my dime?

I can’t stress enough that our Republican Authorities have only just begun to do away with election. The Journal Sentinel noticed too:

It is the second set of limits on early voting Republicans have pursued since taking control of state government in 2011. That year, Walker and GOP lawmakers cut back the early-voting period from three weeks, including three weekends, to two weeks, including one weekend.

Year after year the GOP will continue to neutralize the effect of our elections. Is this what they meant by freedom and liberty?

No Secret: Racism Behind Still more Voter Restrictions.

Sen. Tim Carpenter ended the long Democratic silence on Republican racism, which the GOP has used endlessly to attacks minority voters. It’s about time for a little honesty. See them squirm and shout out their phony denials. Maybe they’ll own up to what has been obvious to most of us.

No apologies, no take backs, no stopping the drumbeat:

jsonline: In Tuesday's heated Senate session on election bills, Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) said that a Republican lawmaker "hates blacks and Latinos." Carpenter said that Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) must despise minorities because in his view several elections bills she's sponsored would limit voting in Milwaukee and other urban areas where many minority voters live.

The shocking realization sent Lazich off the deep end. Of course she was in denial:

Lazich vehemently objected. Republicans say the bills are needed to uphold a fair and accurate elections system.

This "fair and accurate elections" bullshit has run out of gas. Funny how it never gets any fairer or accurate.

Listen to the audio from WPR's Joy Cardin Show, where Sen. Glenn Grothman says he's trying to prevent the development of two classes in the state (one class has longer voting hours...etc), and Carpenter's actual comment with Lazich objecting:

But racism is at the heart of their philosophy. Republican Sen. Paul Farrow's own words; “rude,” “reprehensible,” and “personal attack” is one way of describing their voter suppression campaign in Wisconsin’s major urban areas. They just don’t see themselves that way, which is what Carpenter was getting at:

Sen. Paul Farrow (R-Pewaukee) responded that Carpenter owed Lazich an apology for his  "rude and reprehensive" comments. "A difference of philosophy does not give anyone the right to personally attack or make inflammatory and slanderous accusations regarding a legislator’s legislative intentions," he said. 

Lazich is a deeply troubled person, I mean look at what she did with sex ed and vaginal probes. And we can thank Farrow for hitching his wagon to Lazich’s racist agenda. And that goes for every Republican who will eventually prove their hate for blacks and Latinos with even more election limits. 

Surprise, Ohio is doing the same thing with voting hours. Chris Hayes could be talking about Wisconsin's newly proposed voter hours:

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Sen. Glenn Grothman: Democrats “don’t…care that much about voting” and how the GOP Voter Suppression Bill Attacks Cities.

During the whole Walker Authority attack on early voting, the one biggest issue that Democrats never thought to point out: Rural communities will continue to have complete flexibility on early voting, while cities will have hard restrictions. That’s what Republicans call a fair “uniform statewide law.”

Is there an opposition party at the Capitol, because I’m not hearing their outrage? 

Finally, this newer wrinkle on voter suppression got national air time:

Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl told MSNBC: In 2012, the city saw more than 1,000 early voters per day, according to Witzel-Behl. She said the reduction in hours, and the loss of flexibility, would make life more difficult for her office – and for voters.

While hitting big cities hard, the bill leaves voting practices in small towns largely untouched. Many small towns in Wisconsin let people make appointments to cast their ballots at the local clerk’s house, McDonell explained—something they’ll be able to keep doing. “What this does is, it leaves in place the ability for the small communities to set their hours in different ways, but it shuts down the big cities from having the ability to do that,” said McDonell.

So gerrymandering wasn't enough, they had to make sure rural areas had a voting advantage? Yes.

Perhaps the GOP's obsession with voter suppression has its roots in something Sen. Grothman said:

State Sen. Glenn Grothman: “Between [early voting], mail absentee, and voting the day of election, you know, I mean anybody who can’t vote with all those options, they’ve really got a problem,” he said. “I really don’t think they care that much about voting in the first place, right?”

For a party that doesn't believe in over regulation, voting rights is that one exception.

Lord Valdemort Stroebel's Plan to Limit Voting Hours in Cities.

Something about this doesn't make any sense. Apparently, too many cities voters are turning out, putting the less densely populated rural areas at a disadvantage.

Before you read the following about limiting the hours of early voting in cities that are predominantly Democratic, consider this:

Suppose each early voter takes 5 minutes to cast their ballot, who’s going to need more time (not including more costly staff)?

20 people an hour in a rural area, or 100 people an hour in a city? Remember, each ballot takes 5 minutes.

If we treat urban and rural areas the same, common sense tells you cities will have to disenfranchise lots of voters. That’s called voter suppression.

jsonline: Thousands of people would have to find a new time to vote ahead of major elections, under a bill the state Assembly will take up … (the) measure would limit early voting in municipal clerks' offices to weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. — a move that would effectively end weekend voter drives in Democratic strongholds such as Milwaukee and Madison. But it also would end weekend voting that occurs in some suburbs that are rich with Republican votes.

You know something is wrong when the bill's sponsor has to say over and over how it’s just “common sense” and “fair.” A sell job that is not only insulting, but ridiculously obvious.

John Soper, a spokesman for the bill's lead sponsor in the Assembly, Rep. Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) said, "Unless people are allowed to vote 24/7, there must be common-sense guidelines to ensure fairness and equality.” "(The bill) strikes a balance to meet the needs of the diverse types of municipalities around Wisconsin while ensuring standardized and fair elections" … people in rural areas don't have the opportunity to vote on weekends or evenings.

Can we call this a dumb idea? Why can’t rural voters make it out on weekends or evening? Not everyone living in the country is a farmer, and farmers can and will find the time to vote if they want, just like city folks. It doesn't make any sense, no matter how many times Rep. Duey "Lord Valdemort" Stroebel says it does. 

Rep. Robin Vos: "We all know that our elections system doesn't work...as well as it should."

“We all know…”

Stop it. Stop it now. The truth is “we all know” is BS.

We all know the founding fathers never meant the government to be so big, right?

We all know regulation creates uncertainty for businesses, who want to but can’t hire new employees.

 

We all know fast tracking iron and mineral mining in Wisconsin will bring thousands of new jobs into the state with no environmental impact.

We all know people on food stamps aren't motivated to get jobs, so it makes sense to take away that benefits for their own good.

We all know Common Core is a European plot to dumb down America and is a federal government takeover of our local schools.

We all know people don’t like ObamaCare and want it repealed.

We all know voter fraud is so rampant and easy to conceal, it’s almost impossible catching anyone doing it.

We all know…does saying “we all know” really make something true? For years the media’s gone along with these ridiculous “we all know” generalities, no matter how dumb they sound.

Ready for the latest “we all know” bullshit from Rep. Robin Vos, that we didn't "all know" was a problem:

We all know that our elections system doesn't work anywhere near as well as it should.  That’s why the Assembly will work on some very important reforms. One idea is to make sure everyone statewide has the same access to early voting opportunities.

We all know what this really means; limited early voting times, statewide, treating high population centers like rural one tavern communities. Where do you think we'll see the long lines?

Early Votes going Big for Obama in Wisconsin and Iowa

Here's a nice breakdown of the MSNBC/Wall Street Journal poll numbers on early voting in Wisconsin and Iowa from Rachel Maddow.

It looks like there aren't a whole lot of people heading out early here.